Word Count vs Character Count: What's the Difference?

• Word count is the number of words in a text: Good for blog posts, essays, articles, reports and other content that require length and depth.
• Character count: counts each letter, number, symbol, punctuation and space. When writing for limited spaces, such as meta titles, descriptions, forms, ads and social media posts, it is important to keep in mind.
• The main difference is what each one counts:Each one counts, but the main difference is the nature of the count. Word count is about the words in the text, and character count is about the number of individual characters in the text, including spaces if counted.
• The word count is more meaningful for the depth of content: I use it to see if a piece of writing is clear, complete and doesn't have superfluous padding.
• Useful for space requirements is character count: I'm using it to ensure short fields of text don't get cut off, rejected or abbreviated in different platforms.

Word count: The number of words in a text.

For example:

Word count matters.

There are 3 words in this sentence:

1. count
2. matters

Word count is often employed when the emphasis is on length, depth and structure of written material. It can be used to assess if a piece was short, detailed, comprehensive or too long for the purpose. Word count is used when editing content to determine if it is too short, too long or detailed for the purpose.

Common Uses of Word Count

For the following you will find word counts:

• Blog posts
• Essays
• Articles
• Research papers
• Book chapters
• Product descriptions
• Website pages
• Reports
• Cover letters
• Speeches
• SEO content briefs

For example: A teacher could ask for a 1000 word essay. The length of the blog post might be requested by a content editor and may be 1,500 words. There may be a minimum word count requirement for manuscripts submitted to a publisher. In these situations, the objective is not only to narrow down space, it's to direct the depth of interpretation.

Character count refers to an entire text, meaning that the total number of characters in the text is the count. The character may be a letter, a number, a punctuation mark, a symbol or space. Typically I will consider the character count for SEO titles, meta description, social media, forms and any text area with limited space.

For example:

Hello!

This text has 6 characters:

1. H
2. e
3. l
4. l
5. o
6. !

If there is a space, then it is a plus one!

For example:

Hi there

There are 8 characters in this text (including the space):

1. H
2. i
3. space
4. t
5. h
6. e
7. r
8. e

If not for the space, it has 7 characters.

Common Uses of Character Count

Counting is typically employed for:

• Meta titles
• Meta descriptions
• Social media posts
• SMS messages
• Online forms
• Usernames
• Passwords
• Headlines
• Search ads
• App store descriptions
• Email subject lines
• Database fields

Character limits are frequently used when there is limited space or when the content needs to be located in a specific area.

The distinction is quite straightforward:

Words are measured using word count. The character count is the count of each individual character.

There may be multiple characters in a word. For Example: The word “content” has 1 word and 7 characters.

A comparison of the two you can make is this:

Content length and detail is better measured by Word count. Space count, formatting and platform limits are better measured in character count.

There are two ways to count the characters:

• Characters with spaces
• Characters without spaces

This is important since spaces may be interpreted differently across various platforms and tools.

Characters With Spaces

Everything from the letters to punctuation, numbers, symbols, and spaces.

Example:

Good writing

Character count (including spaces): 12

“Good” to “writing” is included.

Characters Without Spaces

This will not include spaces but will include letters and punctuation.

Example:

Good writing

Character count without spaces: 11

Typically, platforms with stringent text restrictions like social media sites or form text boxes count spaces as characters. That's because there's a space that needs space.

• The word count is important because it will determine the amount of information you can provide as well as explain a topic in depth.
• The short word count might be helpful for quick answers, summaries, and simple pages. Detailed guides, tutorials, comparisons, and articles about SEO might require more word count.

Word Count Helps With Content Depth

• An article that is 300 words long can introduce a topic but may not explain the topic in detail. The 1,500 words of the blog post give you more space to include examples, definitions, comparisons, and practical tips.
• In terms of SEO, the word count should be aligned with the search query. A brief question might require a longer response. If the subject is complicated it can be useful to have a longer article and a more detailed breakdown.
• It is not to write longer words to make a longer word count. The intent is to convey a clear and complete message on the topic.

The platform has space limitations and character counts are important.

For example: A meta title that is too long may be cut off in search results. If the limit is surpassed, an article on social media cannot be published. Text with more than a certain number of characters might be rejected in a form field.

Character count is a useful tool to ensure you do not go over the technical limits and yet still convey your message.

Character Count Helps With SEO Snippets

In SEO, character count is a critical part of the elements which are important for:

• Meta titles
• Meta descriptions
• URL slugs
• Headings
• Schema fields
• Image alt text
• Search ad copy

While search engines do not always adhere to a set limit for displaying the title and description, a short title and description can make it easier to read and can increase chances for click-throughs.

The word and character count are both important and have different purposes in SEO. For SEO I use word count to align with the search intent and character count to help titles and descriptions be displayed in search results.

Word Count in SEO

• The number of words on a page is a factor that is taken into account in determining the page's comprehensiveness. The job of search engines is to rank content that meets the search intent of the user. In many instances, this means that there are enough words to convey the information correctly.
• But quantity doesn't necessarily translate to high rankings! If the article is too long, or if there is too much repetition or weak explanations, or if there are irrelevant sections, it will not do well. If it is a short article, it can still be a good ranking article if it answers the query clearly.
• To optimize for search engines, it's best to use a lot of words to address the topic without padding it out with filler content.

Character Count in SEO

Elements in search results or with display limits are more important by number of characters.

These include:

• SEO title tags
• Meta descriptions
• Page headings
• URLs
• Product titles
• Structured data fields

For example: A title tag generally should be short enough to fit in the search engine results. Meta description should be clear, concise and of proper length, so it can be an effective click-through booster.

Here are some examples of how to apply the concepts.

• Some social media sites have character limits due to the requirement that posts fit a format or structure.
• If a post is long, has hashtags or contains a link, it could still be too long even if it's only 20 words. A post, however, with a lot of short words might be more likely to meet the guideline.
• The number of characters is more significant than the number of words for social media writing. Word count does have an impact on readability, though. For shorter posts, you may need to write a message that is easy to scan.

Academic writing is more of a word count game.

Assignments, research papers, dissertations and essays can have a minimum and/or a maximum word count. This assists teachers and institutions regulate expected level of analysis.

For Example: A 2,000 word essay needs to be more developed than a 500 word response. The writers should provide explanations, evidence, and arguments within the allotted length.

There are instances in academic writing where character count is still relevant – in abstracts, titles, keywords, or online submission forms.

• Both are commonly employed in professional writing.
• Business reports can be set a word-length limit. There may be a character limit for a resume summary. A LinkedIn headline or email subject line, or product description, might need to be constrained in length.
• Use word count to control the quality of your content and character count to control how your content will look in the format you are publishing it in.

• Both are not always more significant. This will vary according to the goal of the writing.
• It is important when you want to limit the length, depth, or structure of a text. Character count is more important when you need to fit text into a limited space.
• Word count typically is more important for blog posts, articles, essays and guides. Meta descriptions, social media posts, ads, and forms tend to have more of an emphasis on character count.
• In the best content, it may well be that both are taken into consideration.

The following are best practices for using both:

• Match words with purpose of content.
• Please refrain from adding words for the sake of the length of content.
• Also check the character count in SEO titles and descriptions.
• Count spaces when composing for absolute length constraints.
• Keep headlines and meta tags short and to the point.
• Focus on being clear, not lengthy!
• Consider content that will only be viewed on a mobile or desktop device when display is important.
• Before publishing, use a word and character counter to verify the number of words and characters.

Good writing is not about the highest, most numerous count. It's all about the right amount of text to communicate effectively. I use a word and character counter before publishing content to check both counts (rather than trying to do it manually).

For tool-specific guides, see word count in Google Docs and word count in Microsoft Word. Need to check both counts instantly? Use our free word counter.